University hockey returns to North Sydney

NORTH SYDNEY — Four Cape Breton players will skate for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men men’s hockey team when they face the Saint Mary’s Huskies for Atlantic University Sport exhibition play on Friday at the Emera Centre Northside.

North Sydney native Michael Kirkpatrick is one of four Cape Breton players on the St. Francis Xavier X-Men who will play an Atlantic University Sport exhibition game against the Saint Mary’s Huskies at the Emera Centre Northside on Friday.

Michael Kirkpatrick and Cory MacIntosh of North Sydney are joined on the X-Men roster by Brad Cuzner of Glace Bay and Jarrad Struthers of Port Morien. The team also features former Cape Breton Screaming Eagles forward Robert Slaney.

The puck drops on Friday’s game at 7 p.m.

“I think we get more fans there than we get in an actual regular season game here at St. FX,” joked Kirkpatrick, when reached after team practice on Monday in Antigonish. “The guys love going down. It’s always a great game.”

The last time an AUS men’s hockey exhibition game was held at the North Sydney rink was in 2012, when the X-Men played the Prince Edward Island Panthers. The X-Men skated to a 3-2 win in front of 975 fans, with Kirkpatrick, MacIntosh, Cuzner and Struthers all on the roster.

“Two years ago, it was a great turnout and I had a lot of family and friends at the game,” said Kirkpatrick. “I know the Cape Breton boys have a lot of family and friends at the game. We all had chills going out for the starting lineup. The coach started all the Cape Bretoners for the opening, so it was a pretty cool experience.”

X-Men head coach Brad Peddle said he’s still fine tuning his team through exhibition play and finalizing his roster. His team opens the regular season on Oct. 11 against the Huskies.

“We try to do that with our exhibition games, move them around a little bit,” he said. “Any time we can go back into the home territory of some of our players, it’s a good thing and helps generate support for sure.”

In terms of the brand of hockey, Peddle said the university game is a step above the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in terms of age, maturity and speed.

“The average age of guys could be between 21-25,” said Peddle. “We have Rob Slaney here, who’s a big name in Cape Breton who played three years of pro and now he’s in his last year with us. Those are the kind of guys you’re getting. It’s guys who are older and it’s a fast brand of hockey and that’s what the AUS is known for, and that’s what the fans can expect.

“It’s very close to professional hockey when you think of the age of the guys. A lot of them could be playing pro if they wanted to be, but they choose to get their education first.”